Software engineering with LLMs in 2025: reality check (at LDX3 by LeadDev)

How are devs at AI startups and in Big Tech using AI tools, and what do they think of them? A broad overview of the state of play in tooling, with Anthropic, Google, Amazon, and long-time software engineers, including Kent Beck, Martin Fowler, and others. Recorded at the LDX3 conference in London, on 16 June (https://leaddev.com/leaddev-london/). Read the accompanying article, published in The Pragmatic Engineer https://newsletter.pragmaticengineer.com/p/software-engineering-with-llms-in-2025 — The Pragmatic Engineer deepdives relevant for this talk: • MCP Protocol: a new AI dev tools building block https://newsletter.pragmaticengineer.com/p/mcp • Real-world engineering challenges: building Cursor https://newsletter.pragmaticengineer.com/p/cursor • Vibe Coding as a software engineer https://newsletter.pragmaticengineer.com/p/vibe-coding-as-a-software-engineer • Microsoft is dogfooding AI dev tools’ future https://newsletter.pragmaticengineer.com/p/microsoft-ai-dev-tools • Inside Amazon's Engineering Culture https://newsletter.pragmaticengineer.com/p/amazon • Building Windsurf with Varun Mohan https://newsletter.pragmaticengineer.com/p/building-windsurf-with-varun-mohan • Inside Sourcegraph’s Engineering Culture https://newsletter.pragmaticengineer.com/p/inside-sourcegraphs-engineering-culture — Timestamps: (00:00) Intro (03:47) AI dev tools startups (06:28) Big Tech (12:12) AI startups (15:14) Seasoned software engineers (19:45) Open questions